Tories’ local elections woes blamed on PM’s ‘major mistake’ in dropping housebuilding targets – as ex-leader Iain Duncan Smith warns loss of 1,000 councillors will make general election harder but says Labour aren’t nailed on to win
- The Tory inquest into the party’s local elections battering last week continues
The Tories’ local elections disaster can be blamed on Rishi Sunak’s ‘major mistake’ in abandoning housebuilding targets, an ex-Cabinet minister has claimed.
Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary, called on the Government to ‘get back to building the homes that people need’ as a ‘matter of urgency’.
He warned the Conservatives not to ‘pander to the public’s worst instincts’ and insisted they ‘cannot out-Nimby the Liberal Democrats and the Greens’.
Rishi Sunak saw the Tories lose more than 1,000 councillors and close to 50 councils in an electoral bloodbath on Thursday.
The Prime Minister today declined to apologise to the vast swathes of Conservative councillors who lost their seats, but admitted it was a ‘disappointing’ result.
As the Tory inquest into the local elections continued, former party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith admitted the loss of councillors across England would make the next general election campaign harder.
But he stressed it would be wrong to say the Conservatives could no longer win and prevent Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer from entering Downing Street.
The Prime Minister today declined to apologise to the vast swathes of Conservative councillors who lost their seats, but admitted it was a ‘disappointing’ set of local elections
Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary, called on the Government to ‘get back to building the homes that people need’ as a ‘matter of urgency’.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith admitted the loss of councillors across England would make the next general election campaign harder
Speaking as he volunteered at a Big Help Out event in Hertfordshire today, to mark the final day of the Coronation weekend, Mr Sunak said: ‘It’s always disappointing to lose hardworking Conservative councillors.’
The PM added: ‘I know that people want us to deliver for them on their priorities.
‘I know that’s not going to happen overnight but we’re going to strain every sinew to do exactly that.’
Mr Sunak reiterated his five priorities on the economy, the NHS and the Channel migrant crisis, adding: ‘I believe those are the country’s priorities, those are my priorities and I’m going to work night and day to deliver on them for everyone.’
It came after Mr Clarke had continued his criticism of the PM for ditching compulsory housebuilding targets in a concession to Tory rebels over the Government’s flagship Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.
The ex-Cabinet minister, who served in Liz Truss’s brief administration last autumn, blamed both the turmoil in Tory ranks over the past 12 months and current policy for the party’s electoral failings.
‘In these results there is one theme that stands out above all others for me is that we cannot out-Nimby the Liberal Democrats and the Greens, so one aspect of policy that does need to change and change as a matter of urgency is our housing policy,’ Mr Clarke told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘So we can get back to building the homes that people need, making the case, the moral, economic, political case, for building the homes that a growing population requires rather than, I’m afraid, trying to pander to the public’s worst instincts on this question, which isn’t working.
‘I would say that dropping those targets was a major mistake and I would like those restored.’
In an article for the Telegraph, Sir Iain admitted the Tories suffered a ‘bad’ result in last week’s local elections.
‘That is a simple fact that cannot be spun away,’ he wrote.
‘Not just bad in terms of national numbers, but also bad because these councillors are often the key part of local campaigns for the general elections.
‘Their absence will make it more difficult to deliver, particularly in the critical marginal seats.’
But Sir Iain, who led the Tories between 2001 and 2003, said it would be ‘wrong’ to compare the current situation with 1996 – when Tony Blair’s New Labour were on the brink of a landslide win.
‘I was campaigning then and I all too clearly remember the mood,’ he added.
‘Conservative voters were so angry that they didn’t engage on the doorstep; they just said it was time for a change. They were openly prepared to vote Labour, not to protest but to bring in a new government.
‘This time, I didn’t find any great sense that voters want a Labour Government led by Keir Starmer instead.
‘In fact, I don’t recall him being mentioned once. Instead, they felt high taxes, high Government spending and high immigration meant that there was little difference between the two main parties.
‘A number also talked of failing to deliver on Brexit.’
Rishi Sunak saw the Tories lose more than 1,000 councillors and close to 50 councils in an electoral bloodbath on Thursday
Sir Iain said it would be ‘utterly wrong to extrapolate from Thursday’s result and declare that the Conservatives can’t win next year’s election’.
‘Instead, what it tells us is that the jury is still out,’ he continued. ‘Keir Starmer’s Labour hasn’t achieved the cut-through it might have expected. We can still succeed.’
The Liberal Democrats are attempting to add to the pressure on Mr Sunak by tabling a motion of no confidence in his Government in the House of Commons as soon as tomorrow.
The Prime Minister would be highly likely to win if it reached a vote because he commands a large majority.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: ‘The local elections showed that the public clearly has no confidence in Sunak or the Conservatives, so it’s time for a general election now.
‘There’s only one reason Rishi Sunak would deny British people a say at the ballot box: because he is running scared and knows he’d lose.’
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